Information for 17640IIED

Chinese investment in DRC: a view from the forest

China has a keen and growing interest in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC’s) natural resources. Chinese companies have secured direct access to these in return for building infrastructure and Chinese investors have made deals with local authorities to harvest resources. But such arrangements are not improving local livelihoods and sustainability. The China-Africa Forest Governance Project worked to improve the forest practices of Congolese-Chinese company partnerships and help the DRC’s artisanal loggers organise to improve China-linked trade. This briefing presents a summary of progress made and explores how stakeholders from both countries can work together to improve policy and practice to promote integrated and sustainable value chains that are legally compliant and achieve real benefits for the DRC’s people and forests.